Every year Government spends approximately $39 billion (18% of GDP) with a diverse range of suppliers and providers. Government agencies are increasingly reliant on suppliers to provide critical services, as third party spend grows as a proportion of agency spend. Yet agencies aren’t necessarily investing in the practices for procuring and managing these services. Similarly, the private sector often voice concerns about the nature of their relationships with government customers, particularly in being able to work together to unlock innovation.

By engaging the market earlier in the process, customers are able to use suppliers to not only shape the nature of the procurement process to ensure maximum value, but also to influence service delivery.

Agencies have different levels of maturity for categorising suppliers and then implementing fit-for-purpose contract management frameworks. Experience has shown that ensuring the success of the most critical vendor relationships requires involvement from all levels of the organisation, from Contract Managers to Chief Executives. But a true appreciation of the relationship requires customers to see things from the suppliers’ perspective.